The Sport of Figure Skating: History and Development

3/20/2018 7:20:08 AM

Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, duos, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. As far as the origin of figure skating is concerned, its history dates back to prehistoric times. The primitive ice skates appear in the archaeological record from about 3000 BC.

In the late 19th Century, the International figure skating competitions started coming up. The European Championships were inaugurated in Hamburg in 1891 and in 1896 the first World Championships were held in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire. The first clear mention about figure skating has been made in a book written in the 12th century by William Fitzstephen. The first representation of ice skating in a work of art was made in the 15th century. Another development in ice skating came up in 1742. It was when the Edinburgh Skating Club i.e. the first ice skating association was formed. The first instructional book relating to ice skating was written by Robert Jones. The book explains basic figure skating forms like circles and figure eights. It was the first winter sport included in the Olympics, in 1908. The present day figure skating has four Olympic disciplines- men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating and ice dancing.